Seven local health departments in the rural northeast corner of Ohio developed a council of governments to facilitate sharing services in order to increase their respective capacities. In the process, they realized an unexpected byproduct was establishing a stronger voice for local public health. This publication is from the Center for Sharing Public Health Services.
This report, from the Task Force for Improving Public Health in Portage County (Ohio), presents the culmination of the first phase of an initiative to strengthen the public health system in Portage County. Slenkovich, K., Boulter, J., & Budnik, A. (2012). Improving Public Health in Portage County. Kent, OH: Kent State University, College of Public […]
Based on an assessment of three local health departments, Kent State University personnel make recommendations for public health leaders who are consolidating local health agencies. Recommendations include 1) defining and collecting baseline information, 2) carefully planning the process of implementation, and 3) addressing challenges (i.e., leadership, credibility, assessment of progress). Call the Center for Sharing […]
This report provides a historical narrative of the process of consolidating three local health departments into one for an entire county. It provides details of how the political, legal, fiscal and administrative challenges to obtaining approval of the merger and of implementing it were met. Harvard Kennedy School. (2012). The Consolidation of the Health Departments […]
This briefing report is a retrospective review of the process, challenges and outcomes of the consolidation of three health departments.
This report provides an overview of the eight major strategic and operational challenges the newly formed Summit County Public Health Department faced as it worked through its first year of transition after consolidating three local public health districts into a unified public health organization. The challenges involved implementing new overall strategic decisions, adjusting personnel and […]
This presentation is part of a panel of four, made during the annual meeting for the American Public Health Association on October 31, 2012, in San Francisco, California, by a county-level policymaker from Ohio who participated in the implementation of cross-jurisdictional sharing (CJS) of public health services in his county. He shares lessons learned from […]
This is a report on a feasibility study for the Summit County Health District (Ohio) and the Akron Health Department that examined the critical issues that could support or impede a successful merger with guidance from the health care community. The critical issues addressed include: governance, personnel, finance, public health services, facilities, legal issues, timetable […]
This report proposes a model for Ohio’s local governmental public health system. The model includes a mechanism for governance and sustainable financing that considers cross-jurisdictional sharing and/or regionalization, enhances quality, and assures value. The project, which is the result of a public health project guided by a steering committee of health commissioners, explored cross-jurisdictional sharing […]
This report, funded in part by NALBOH, documents a feasibility study of issues and options involved in the creation of a city / county health district consolidation. Call the Center for Sharing Public Health Services for more information about this publication.